WVU names 2013 class of Bucklew Scholars

The University awards 20 of the state’s top-performing high school seniors the esteemed Neil S. Bucklew Scholarship to attend WVU in the fall. The scholarship, valued at $30,000, provides each student with more than $7,500 per year toward educational costs during his or her four years at WVU.

McCoy, of Man, ranks first in his class at Man High School. McCoy played an integral role in his community production of “The Aracoma Story” in 2012. “The Aracoma Story” is an annual outdoor drama, which takes place in the Liz Spurlock Amphitheatre in Chief Logan State Park. It documents the real-life story of a young British soldier, Boling Baker, who is captured by the tribe of Chief Cornstalk.

“As the lead, I was instituted in a position of leadership among the cast, being entrusted not only to take care of myself but to take care of my cast-mates,” McCoy said. “I was able to serve my community as well as the State of West Virginia by keeping alive a part of its bountiful and colorful history.”

McCoy anticipates studying economics at WVU in hopes of getting a researching position at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

“At the Mercatus Center, I would look at items such as the negative effects of taxation, protectionism, regulation, and government intervention,” McCoy said.

McCoy is currently the vice president of Man High School’s National Honor Society and has exhausted the list of AP courses available to him.

He is the son of Harold and Jean Ann McCoy.

Neil S. Bucklew, the scholarship’s creator, served as WVU’s 20th president from 1986 to 1995. The scholarships are part of the University’s comprehensive awards program and are supported, in part, by the WVU Foundation, the private non-profit corporation that generates, receives and administers private gifts for the benefit of WVU.

The students are now eligible for WVU’s top academic award, the Foundation Scholarship, which is awarded to five of the Bucklew Scholars. The Foundation scholars will be announced in May.